Why is Rupert Murdoch buying the Brooklyn Paper, as the New York Observer reports today? Does Rupert Murdoch even know that he's buying the Brooklyn Paper?

Lo: Remember the Good Old Days of journalism, when NYC precinct houses were full of dozens of grizzled, worldly reporters covering gritty city crime? Now it's just one 23 year-old from the Brooklyn Paper.

Gersh Kuntzman, the cast-auctioning, editorially cute editor of the Brooklyn Paper, is a bit of a publicity hound, to be sure. We shouldn't encourage this type of behavior—videotaping yourself going to a Montessori School to be a kid's mentor-ish "special friend"—but Gersh seems so worried about his performance that we can't look away. He asks each kid whether or not he's a good special friend, adding, "What do you like about me?" Well, we've always had a weakness for older Jewish men. Nothing personal. But seriously—this video is a cry for help. [Brooklyn Paper]

Oh, the possibilities of technology! They're just too much. Brooklyn Paper editor (formerly of the NY Post, Newsweek, and a book about male-pattern baldness) Gersh Kuntzman and senior reporter Mike McLaughlin made a totally nerdy "breaking" podcast about law-firm lies, filmed in front of file folders in a glamorous flourescent-lit office. Gersh is pretty cute in that editorial sort of way, but this vid (sorry, "podcast") is silly, guys. Just write an article about it or something. Update: Gersh replies, "I object strongly to being called 'pretty cute.' Clearly, you should have referred to me - as other media do - as 'Clooney-esque' (though they may have been referring to Rosemary Clooney)." Don't push it, mate. [Brooklyn Paper]

So on Friday we asked if everyone's favorite stoop liner, The Brooklyn Paper, might be "undergoing some turmoil," according to what editor Gersh Kuntzman allegedly told one of his freelancers, who complained about not being paid for months. We got a dressing-down in the comments from Kuntzman, who accused us of violating the Constitution, his mom, and some other stuff. Of course, that was after the editor sent us his eBay listing promising the highest bidder "a piece of journalistic, medical and political history." Oooh! "How about a little last-minute buzz on my cast?" Kuntzman asked us. You will be sad to learn the bidding for the cast "worn by legendary Brooklyn journalist Gersh Kuntzman after he broke his ankle in January" ended last night, netting the editor $102.50. Brooklyn Paper freelancers: on Monday when you mug him for your share, practice a little compassion, hmm? Aim for the other ankle.
Previously: Itsy 'Brooklyn Paper' Killed By Gigantic News Corp?

Trouble brewing at The Brooklyn Paper? A tipster warns that freelancers at the local weekly haven't been paid since last summer and editor Gersh Kuntzman has told them the community glossy is "undergoing some turmoil." Probably in the form of Rupert Murdoch, who bought the paper's main competition last year, but maybe also because of all the beggars milling around wildly! The Brooklyn Paper's five editions (what, you expected Bay Ridge to share with Park Slope?) have helped New York's j-school students cut their teeth and pay for pizza for the last twenty years. Now what will they do, eat copies of The Bronx Beat?

Many readers expressed incredulity regarding the case of two Williamsburg residents who were burgled while they were "working" at home. ("Apparently, the victims — a 24-year-old woman and 26-year-old man — were working so hard that they failed to notice that someone had broken into their apartment and stolen a Toshiba laptop, a Sony Playstation 2, an iPod, an iMac, a digital camera, a mini-disc recorder, and a video iPod.") What exactly were they doing? Each other? Drugs? How did they not notice? Were they listening to their iPod? (No, it was stolen!) Turns out that the simplest answer is indeed the most obvious!